De Blasio gets knocked off his high horse (NYP) Two cops shot, a crane collapse, random razor-slashing attacks and chaos and corruption at City Hall. A mosaic of snapshots of life in New York spells mounting troubles for Mayor Putz. In a foolish bid to make himself a national player, de Blasio spent nearly four days in Iowa during the presidential primary. The trip was a bust, and he returned to discover that the unholy alliance he forged to reduce the popular horse carriages was collapsing. This was no routine policy failure. Beyond giving him a political black eye, the acrimonious collapse exposed both his arrogance and incompetence. Most troubling, the misbegotten venture galvanized suspicions that his is a pay-to-play administration. In a naked bid to deliver a promise to donors who funded his 2013 campaign, the mayor tried to buy off the Teamsters union that represents the carriage drivers and skeptical members of the City Council. Knowing he had a weak hand and that disclosure of the details would doom the deal, he tried to speed it through the council. Yet the bid to squash the horse carriages stands out like a sore thumb, and the collapse cannot be the end of the matter. As I noted, I believe de Blasio’s efforts probably crossed the legal line. He spent too much time and political capital on an issue that never troubled him much before donors raised it. Moreover, horses have zero relevance to what he says is the central purpose of his mayoralty–tackling income inequality. So why did he do it? Something is rotten and I believe the episode warrants a criminal investigation. The mayor is permitted to be arrogant and incompetent and even lie about his motives. But he is not permitted to sell his office to the highest bidder or use taxpayer money to reward donors.

The Daily News Snarky: the FBI Knows de Blasio's Man With Horses When Will the Daily News Also Call for Election Fixing By NYCLASS ?

At this point, de Blasio’s obsession for carriage horses is nothing short of a mania. He appears to be irrational. But is he? To find out, call a psychiatrist or call the FBI

Mayor, money andmania: Ugly truths drove necessary defeat of de Blasio's carriage horse plot(NYDN) In 2007, as a councilman, he spurned a carriage-horse bill. In 2008, animal-rights activist Wendy Neu gave $1,000 to his public advocate campaign. For a time, de Blasio remained uninterested in efforts to rein in carriage horses. Even so, wealthy activist Stephen Nislick, founder of a group called NYCLASS, and likeminded others kept donating. By January 2011, NYCLASS supporters had written $20,400 in checks to de Blasio’s treasury — and the then-public advocate came around to supporting an anti-carriage-horse drive. Money continued to flow into his coffers: $45,350 by the mayoral election. Then, in 2013, Neu, Nislick and NYCLASS poured $625,000 into a political action committee that was hammering mayoral rival Christine Quinn with powerfully effective negative ads. Run the total: $670,000. For that sum Nislick, Neu and NYCLASS surely want their money’s worth, and, hell, de Blasio is trying to give it. Whatever a psychiatrist might ask about, an FBI agent would want to discuss the conversations surrounding payments and services rendered. On the eve of his inauguration, de Blasio famously vowed to ban carriage horses entirely on Day One, but the Council balked.* The lessons of de Blasio’s latest carriage-horse fiasco (NYP) De Blasio could satisfy those developers — his donors — by just negotiating a true deal to move the stables, as Mayor Rudy Giuliani did in his day. Apparently, though, fair negotiation just isn’t part of this mayor’s skill set.* If the Teamsters Did Not Kill the Horse Bill Council Was Willing to Accept Legal Bribes to Pass

The Daily News Snarky: the FBI Knows de Blasio's Mania With Horses, Seems A Little Insensitive to Election Fixing By NYCLASS

At this point, de Blasio’s obsession for carriage horses is nothing short of a mania. He appears to be irrational. But is he? To find out, call a psychiatrist or call the FBI

Mayor, money andmania: Ugly truths drove necessary defeat of de Blasio's carriage horse plot(NYDN) In 2007, as a councilman, he spurned a carriage-horse bill. In 2008, animal-rights activist Wendy Neu gave $1,000 to his public advocate campaign. For a time, de Blasio remained uninterested in efforts to rein in carriage horses. Even so, wealthy activist Stephen Nislick, founder of a group called NYCLASS, and likeminded others kept donating. By January 2011, NYCLASS supporters had written $20,400 in checks to de Blasio’s treasury — and the then-public advocate came around to supporting an anti-carriage-horse drive. Money continued to flow into his coffers: $45,350 by the mayoral election. Then, in 2013, Neu, Nislick and NYCLASS poured $625,000 into a political action committee that was hammering mayoral rival Christine Quinn with powerfully effective negative ads. Run the total: $670,000. For that sum Nislick, Neu and NYCLASS surely want their money’s worth, and, hell, de Blasio is trying to give it. Whatever a psychiatrist might ask about, an FBI agent would want to discuss the conversations surrounding payments and services rendered. On the eve of his inauguration, de Blasio famously vowed to ban carriage horses entirely on Day One, but the Council balked.* The lessons of de Blasio’s latest carriage-horse fiasco (NYP) De Blasio could satisfy those developers — his donors — by just negotiating a true deal to move the stables, as Mayor Rudy Giuliani did in his day. Apparently, though, fair negotiation just isn’t part of this mayor’s skill set.* If the Teamsters Did Not Kill the Horse Bill Council Was Willing to Accept Legal Bribes to Pass

The Daily News Which Investigated the Advance Group Ducks Comment the CFB AG Parking Ticket Fine

The Daily News and Good Govt Groups Who Said UFT PAC Illegally Funding Advance Now are Silent

Getting Away With Fixing Elections

UFT under fire for apparently trying to hide identity of consulting firm(NYDN)The city’s powerful teachers union is under fire from good-government groups for apparently trying to hide the identity of a consulting firm it was using to boost union-backed candidates. "The listing of the phony firm, 'Strategic Consultants, Inc.,' in campaign filings, obscured that Advance Group was being paid both to promote candidates for the United Federation of Teachers' independent political action committee, and working as the main campaign consultant for several of those same candidates."

The Daily News is Ducking the Low Advance Fine and No Criminal Investigation Means Nobody is Watching the Watchmen

The Daily News Reported That People Close to de Basio Sent Cash to Advance Run NYCLASS

Bill at the trough (NYDN Ed) De Blasio's conversion on horse carriages coincided with a rush of campaign cash. This is the curious story of how a self-described skeptic of the ban in 2007 became, by March 2013, a man who pledged to “ban the horse carriages in Central Park within the first week on the job.” In 2007, then-City Councilman de Blasio declared himself “skeptical” of a bill seeking to ban the carriages. In January 2008, the checks began arriving — and, presumably, the reeducation of the politician got underway. Wendy Neu, a longtime animal rights advocate who would later become a NYCLASS board member, gave $1,000 to de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate.Before long, more checks from Neu, NYCLASS co-founder Stephen Nislick and others started rolling in.Conversion complete? Not quite.

The Daily News Broke the Story That Advance Illegally Worked On Mark-Viverito Speakers Race Says Nothing Today

Daily News Leaves Out Council Pay to Play Pay Raise and the Real Estate Deal As It Attacks the Deal On the Health of the Reduced Number of Horses

They kill horses,don’t they? The City Council must refuse de Blasio’s horse bill (NYDN) Whipped like mules and rewarded with money sweets — good boy, good girl — the City Council is moving to a vote that will hurt humans and animals. Members must understand that Mayor de Blasio is driving them to return the favors of animal-rights activists who funded his mayoral campaign in appallingly cruel fashion. The activists wanted to ban horse carriages from the city, declaring that the horses suffered terribly. With the activists spending lavishly on ads that hobbled Christine Quinn’s candidacy, de Blasio declared that the carriage industry was inhumane. Initially, the Council balked at killing the business. And, now, paid-laborer de Blasio is ramming through a “compromise” that would limit horses to Central Park, where they would be housed in a new taxpayer-funded, wasteful $25 million stable. The members are urged to read the Op-Ed article published today. Susan Kayne, of the Unbridled Thoroughbred Foundation, documents that de Blasio’s scheme would severely overwork the horses.* De Blasio denied the suspicion that NYC Council support for his horse carriage proposal is somehow intertwined with a plan to raise lawmakers’ wages.

Even the NYT is Against the Central Park Horse Deal, But Says Nothing About the Mayor's Pay to Play Pay Deal With the Council Central Park Conservancy Pressuring the NYT

A Misguided Plan for Carriage Horses (NYT Ed) Having failed to kill New York City’s carriage-horse industry, Mayor Bill de Blasio has settled for crippling it. He has sent a bill to accomplish this to the City Council, which is expected to vote on it next Friday. The Council needs to stop him. As weary as members might be of this issue, which has been festering since the 2013 mayoral race, they need to dispose of it. This means standing up to the administration, to passionate but misguided animal lovers and to real estate interests presenting themselves as animal lovers. Because the deal would reduce but not eliminate the carriages, and confine them to the shady lanes of Central Park, where new stables would be built, it carries the appealing scent of compromise. But it’s a shoddy effort, shot through with dubious assumptions and unanswered questions. Why spend public dollars — perhaps $25 million, though no one knows — to set up a private, profit-seeking business in Central Park? Why build redundant housing for horses during a human homelessness crisis? Why go after law-abiding small-business owners and employees, and take away jobs? When the uprooted business shrivels — from about 170 horses to 110 by December and 95 by 2018 — how will it survive, and what will become of the displaced drivers and jobless horses? Why punish pedicab drivers, who have no political clout, by banishing them from the parts of the park where the carriages will go? Why was the Central Park Conservancy, which has deep reservations about the plan, left out of the discussion? The deal offers a solution where there was no problem. The industry is well-regulated, drivers make a living, and the horses are safe and healthy. The bill before the City Council smells more like a political fix than good policy. It pays a debt to the mayor’s wealthy donors, and it clears the way for developers who covet the West Side property where the stables lie.

Bill de Blasio’s dirty deal to kill the carriage-horse industry (NYP Ed) It’s a dirty new low, even for Mayor de Blasio: He’s set to finally impose a death sentence on the carriage-horse industry while lying about it — and (legally) bribing the City Council to OK it. The drivers don’t want it, the stable owners don’t want it, parks advocates don’t want it — and New Yorkers, by an overwhelming majority, don’t want it. But the City Council is poised to pass a bill Friday to destroy an industry that predates the Civil War. Steve Nislick — who dumped some $2 million into making de Blasio mayor. What’s their interest? Valuable West Side real estate, now home to carriage-horse stables, they’d love to seize and develop. (Nislick denies it. Buy that, and he’ll offer you a bargain on the Brooklyn Bridge.). The mayor calls the bill before the council a “compromise.” That’s pure horse manure. It’s actually a way to pay back de Blasio’s rich backers by killing off the horse-carriage trade in stages while pretending to preserve it. The council is wired to go along in exchange for a deal that will hike members’ pay by 32 percent without a public hearing. Anyway, de Blasio’s bill starts sharply reducing the number of carriages right away, years before the facility could open.That will cut the financial legs out from under the stable owners — forcing them to sell. (Hello, Steve!). No, our “progressive” mayor is destroying honest, working-class jobs — and an entire, small-but-iconic New York industry — so he can repay a fat-cat donor. And he’s using taxpayer cash to bribe the “progressive” council to go along.Looks like another case for Preet Bharara.* Albanybillboards ask public to apply ‘See Something, Say Something’ to politicalcorruption (NYDN) *City Council Members: No Deal-Making in Their Potential Salary Increase (NY1) * A Misguided Plan for Carriage Horses (NYT)

Friday's True News

A Result of the Cover-Up by the CFB and Board of Ethics On the NYCLASS Election Corruption, The Council is Openly Bribeable To A Developer Deal

BOSS TWEED WOULD CHEER: Stink of manure as Council plans to vote for big raises on the very day it votes on de Blasio’s horse bill(NYDN) * There was no smell of fresh hay when Mayor de Blasio reached a horse carriage deal with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on the very day he blessed pay hikes for her members. Now there’s the stink of manure as the Council plans to vote for even bigger raises for themselves on the very day it votes on de Blasio’s horse bill. This isn’t horse trading; it’s daylight bribery. First, animal rights activists pump a critical $1 million into de Blasio’s election campaign. Next, de Blasio says he’ll spend $25 million on a Central Park stable to keep promises to the activists. Next, a Council that had refused to kill the carriage industry gets a big payday and goes along with a plan that purports to limit the horses to Central Park but, in fact, will starve the industry to death well before a necessary new stable opens. Meanwhile, the Council is writing a pay raise bill in secret with plans to take far more than the hike an independent commission recommended. In doing so, Mark-Viverito and company will violate decades of sensible precedent. In every previous pay raise round — in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2006 — the Council voted into law the salary recommendations of special temporary commissions set up to provide the public with an independent judgment of how much pay levels should be increased. Never has a Council passed raises greater than a commission thought warranted. This time, the panel recommended hiking the Council salary 23% from $112,500 to $138,315 while abolishing extra stipends doled out to loyalists. Instead the Council is moving to set salaries closer to $150,000. De Blasio got his money, the animal rights activists got their stables, and Council members are sealing the deal with big money in their pockets.* The New York City Council completed a package of bills on that would adopt provisions on outside income and financial disclosures while raising pay to $148,500 a year, far above a city commission’s recommendation, The NewYork Times reports: * The New York City Council has scheduled two separate hearings on Feb. 9 and 10 for de Blasio's controversial zoning plans related to his overall affordable housing goals, though it’s not clear which officials will testify, Politico New York reports:

True News Also Wags the Daily News On the Speaker Statement That the Mayor Owns Central Park

The public doesn’tcount in Central Park horse deal (NYDN Ed) Mayor de Blasio’s campaign-donor-driven obsession with carriage horses has revealed how one-party political rule distorts the minds of elected officials. First, Queens Councilman Rory Lancman: “I’ll probably support the agreement because my goal is to protect the drivers’ jobs and keep the horse carriages for New Yorkers,” he said, adding: “It really is ridiculous that we have to spend $25 million and upend not one but two industries” because de Blasio would not buck his donors. His was the pronouncement of a supine politician who would rather get along with the mayor than refuse to divert $25 million from, say, affordable housing. Next, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is backing de Blasio and just wants park advocates to shut up: “At the end of the day, the city owns the park. The city owns this facility, and the city is making a decision to invest in this facility.” First, Queens Councilman Rory Lancman: “I’ll probably support the agreement because my goal is to protect the drivers’ jobs and keep the horse carriages for New Yorkers,” he said, adding: “It really is ridiculous that we have to spend $25 million and upend not one but two industries” because de Blasio would not buck his donors.

His was the pronouncement of a supine politician who would rather get along with the mayor than refuse to divert $25 million from, say, affordable housing. Next, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is backing de Blasio and just wants park advocates to shut up: “At the end of the day, the city owns the park. The city owns this facility, and the city is making a decision to invest in this facility.”

The New York City Council has increased its spending by millions of dollars over the past two years, hiring new staff as it seeks to pass more legislation and play a greater role in the city’s land-use process under Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Journal reports: * A day after carriage drivers criticized parts of his plan to move their industry inside Central Park, de Blasio’s animal rights friends reversed course and said they now fully embrace the controversial compromise, the Daily News writes * The Daily News writes that the public’s opinion seems to matter little in one-party New York City on the matter of horse carriages in Central Park, as de Blasio’s political donors have been driving his push to ban the practice

True News Yesterday Did Mark-Viverito Just Admit The Council is the Mayor's Puppet?Central Park is Owned By the People, Not You and the Mayor Madam Speaker

Council Members Not Only Offered Pay Raise Also Offered Member Items, Campaign $ to Pass Horse Bill

De Blasio offered plenty of carrots in bid to pass horse carriage bill (NYP) Multiple City Council members were offered resources or capital projects in their districts in exchange for their support of the measure — which would have shrunk the carriage industry and limited it to Central Park, the sources said. “There were plenty of carrots and plenty of sticks being bandied about over the past 72 hours,” a City Hall source said. Sources said council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito also made it clear to members that she expected their support on an initiative she had championed for years. One council source said she gave Brooklyn Councilman Carlos Menchaca a hard time for his public support of the pedicab drivers — who were treated as collateral damage under the carriage deal with the Teamsters union. “She made it known to members that she wanted this bad and said, ‘This is what I need you to do. Plain and simple,’ ” the source said.

“The mayor wasn’t the only one with a lot of skin in the game. She . . . had a lot riding on it.”t appears their efforts would have been successful if the Teamsters hadn’t bowed to pressure from fellow labor unions and backed out at the 11th hour. After announcing they were pulling the vote, Council officials insisted they had enough support to push it through. Sources said former Edison Properties honcho Stephen Nislick and Hugo Neu Recycling director Wendy Neu — leaders of the animal-rights group NYCLASS — also put pressure on council members. The two of them and close associates pumped at least $900,000 into de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign and the progressive nonprofit he now operates as mayor. * Raise? The City Council’s only earned a pay cut (NYP Ed) The implosion of the horse-carriage-execution bill doesn’t give the City Council license to go ahead and vote itself a windfall pay hike — just the opposite. That arrogance has the public furious. Today’s Post reports on the fury in Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez’s WashingtonHeights district. Our favorite is Jose Blanco’s question: “What about the rest of the city?” If all the council is going to do is collect (legal) bribes for endorsing the mayor’s deals with special interests, it’s hard to see why members deserve any pay at all. * According to a memo, New York City Councilman Paul Vallone will propose an amendment that would allow members to supplement their incomewith outside work paying up to 15 percent of their annual Council salary: * Mocked, resented, and now dead: De Blasio’s horse debacle makes history (PoliticoNY) * 'This is one of the worst political debacles “maybe in all-time memory,” said @BillCunningham8 * Outside-income ban affects few Council members (PoliticoNY) 40 members make no outside income * Less than 24hours after cops shot, City Council votes to give themselves 32% pay boost (NYDN) * Melissa Mark-Viverito doesn't plan to push de Blasio's horse carriage bill after Teamsters dropped support (NYDN)

Rodriguez's District Residents Who Make Average $39,000 Furious That He Said He Needs $175,000 to Feed His Family

Washington Heights residents furious with councilman’s raise request (NYP) Residents of Washington Heights lashed out Thursday at their local city councilman, Ydanis Rodriguez, for saying he needs to get paid at least $175,000 to support his family.“You’re telling me you can’t live off of [$148,500]?! Get outtahere!” said a Sanitation Department worker who gets by on $62,000 and would only give his first name, Ernesto. “I live on less than that,” he seethed. “These City Council guys, they get all the perks.” “What about the rest of the people in the city?” fumed José Blanco, a 41-year-old bookseller who makes $30,000 a year and was walking near 181st Street. The median household income in Rodriguez’s district is $39,500. “The pay should reflect the constituents,” said Michael Bridenstine, a 47-year-old freelance TV director. “I don’t think [Rodriguez] deserves a raise. At $148,500, he should be able to support a family of four. I made less than that and I did it.” Rodriguez’s office issued a statement Thursday saying he supports the $148,500 “compromise reached by the [council] speaker . . . given [members’] foregoing of outside income and the hours of tireless work they put in each day.” Annie Richardo, a 32-year-old teaching assistant who pulls in $32,000, said she wouldn’t again for Rodriguez again now that she knows how much he wants. “What about the other citizens who also have families and need more money?,” she asked.* Residents of WashingtonHeightslashed out at their local NYC councilman, Ydanis Rodriguez, for saying he needs to get paid at least $175,000 to support his family. Rodriguez in 2011 was arrested at an Occupy Wall Street protest, and is among the Council’s most progressive members.* MAP: Council Members Just Got a Raise. See How Much MoreThey Make Than You (DNAINFO) * Councilwoman Dickens Can't Back Up Claim She Used Own Cash for Constituents (DNAINFO)The councilwoman doesn't keep track of how much of her money she spends on constituents, her staff said.

NYP Calls Council Killing Horse Carriages for A Pay Hike A Dirty Trick DN Says the Pay Hike is Too High Only True News Calls Them All Lying Crooks

Killing horse carriages for an outrageous pay hike: Doubly dirty City Council tricks (NYP) Give Melissa Mark-Viverito credit for cleverness: By having the City Council vote Friday on the outrageous anti-horse-carriage bill, she’s minimized the public anger over the obscene council-pay-hike bill set for its own vote that day. The carriage bill savages the industry. The city now licenses about 180 carriages, which each supports two or more horses; the bill would cut that down to 110 horses by year’s end (and to 95 if the promised new Central Park stables ever get built). Slashing the number of horses by two-thirds would quickly force the closure and sale of the stables where the horses live. Stables that sit on land long lusted-after by de Blasio mega-donor Steve Nislick. The mayor insists these two bad bills aren’t linked — that the pay hike’s not a bribe to get the council to kill the carriage industry. But if the City Council wants anyone to believe that, it should act accordingly. As Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) notes, there’s no reason the carriage vote needs to take place now. The only ones eager for a vote are the mayor, the speaker he helped install — and the special interests who want it rushed through. The carriage operators oppose the bill unan­imously. Parks lovers don’t want valuable land turned over to a private enterprise, as the bill promises. Nor should taxpayers have to pay for new Central Park stables. The key Community Boards — 5 and 7 — are also shouting, “Stop!” On the merits, both measures should go down. But it’s just perverse to pass them as a de facto package. Any member who votes for both stands exposed as selling out working-class jobs in order to line his or her own pocket. Instead, listen to the public — and end the rush on both.* Paying for theCouncil’s raise with reforms made permanent (NYDN) The timing. Mark-Viverito’s reasoning for the extra spike is that the Council is banning outside income, for which members should be compensated. We get it. But the entire pay hike is retroactive, starting Jan. 1. By the speaker’s own logic, the $10,185 jump and the outside income ban should start together, after the 2017 election. The time after that. While the Council is rightly killing lulus — bonuses that the speaker doles out to allies — a future Council can revive them. The Council should put a Charter referendum on the November ballot to make the reforms permanent. * The Daily News writes the pay hike sought by the New YorkCity Council is too high and should start after the 2017 election, while members of the committee considering the hike must do real work to improve the rotten plan:* While de Blasio was in Iowa stumping for Hillary Clinton, opposition to his plan to shrink the horse-carriage trade and restrict it to Central Park has grown, prompting the mayor and his surrogates to do some last-minute vote wrangling to counter the growing number of antagonists.

City Hall Council Speaker Still Trying to Fix the Horse Deal

City Council memberswant to delay vote on horse carriages (NYP) City Council members are bucking Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito by calling for a delay in the vote to cut back the horse-carriage industry — while the hansom drivers claim they were sold out by their union. Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) and several colleagues on Monday said there were too many unanswered questions about the legislation to vote on Friday, because people’s livelihoods are on the line. “The time to study whether your policy is going to put people out of work is before you put those people out of work, not after,” said Greenfield. “We have spent way too much time on this issue,” said Andy Cohen (D-Bronx). “There’s a deal — I’d really like to put this behind us so we can focus on more significant issues.” Sources said de Blasio has been personally calling legislators to collect votes for the measure, which is a compromise to his initial bid to get rid of the carriages entirely. Two supporters of the ban, former Edison Properties owner Steve Nislick and Hugo Neu CEO Wendy Neu, have contributed $628,000 to de Blasio’s campaign interests and mayoral agenda, and made additional donations through the animal-rights group NYCLASS. In a new development Monday, the owners of all 68 horse-carriage medallions charged their own union — Teamsters Local 553 — with ignoring their interests by approving the deal with City Hall. “A lot of council members think we support this deal. We don’t support this deal,” said Ian McKeever, a medallion owner and driver for 28 years. Local 553 Treasurer Demos Demopoulus acknowledged the bill wasn’t perfect, but insisted the drivers had been consulted.*

De Blasio’s carriage plan is made for horse-haters (NYP Ed) For decades, carriage-horse owners have been able to rotate their horses and give them days off as they’ve seen fit. Carriage-horse owners are able to easily bring in new horses to try out. Older horses spend increasing amounts of time “on vacation” until their owners find retirement homes for them. Finding a good retirement home can take months or years. Allowing older horses to continue to work, even for a couple of months a year, keeps horses fit both physically and mentally and extends their lifespan. De Blasio would change all of that and put horses in danger. * Some New York City Council members are calling for the body to delay a planned Friday vote on a deal to curtail the horse-carriage industry because they believe there are too many unanswered questions on it,the Post reports: * Mark-Viverito quietly pushes package deal on horses, raises (PoliticoNY) * “The Sopranos” actress Edie Falco, a backer of NYCLASS, sent robocalls to pols urging them to sign off on the deal to cut the number of horses to 75 and keep them in a stable inside Central Park, as did actresses Debi Mazar and Kathy Najimy. Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons was also personally calling members, according to NYCLASS. And X-files star Gillian Anderson is sending them e-mails.

The Teamter Killed the Horse-Carriage Deal Not the Shameless Corrupt Council and Mayor

Someone Put Pressure on the Teamsters Union, The Horse-Carriage Drivers A GoodFellow in Albany?

De Blasio’s bid for horse-carriage deal collapses (NYP) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s months-long bid to push through a deal to shrink the horse carriage industry and restrict it to Central Park fell apart suddenly on Thursday, after the Teamsters Union, which represents drivers, backed out. “The Teamsters’ first priority is always our members and their livelihoods. With the legislation now finalized, our members are not confident that it provides a viable future for their industry,” said Teamsters Joint Council 16 president George Miranda. “We cannot support the horse carriage bill currently before the City Council.” Carriage license owners started to make waves earlier this week by arguing that the union, Teamsters Local 553, had made a deal without their consent. Told of the parent union’s pullout from the deal, carriage license owner and driver Ian Mckeever — who has been a vocal opponent of the deal — was elated. Just Wednesday, de Blasio had dismissed questions about the apparent discord between Local 553 and its members. De Blasio’s 2013 campaign for mayor and his progressive nonprofit — formed since becoming mayor — have benefited from nearly $900,000 from just two animal rights activists and their associates: former Edison Properties honcho Stephen Nislick and Hugo Neu Recycling director Wendy Neu. The mayor later issued a statement saying he intends to continue pressing the issue.* Mayor de Blasio vows to keep trying to rein in horsecarriage industry after Teamsters scuttle City Council vote (NYDN) * When asked for a comment about collapse of horse carriagedeal, a spokesman for @NYGovCuomo responded "Neigh" (AP)

de Blasio Another Humiliating Defeat Was Ubered Incompetent de Blasio earns yet another humiliating defeat (NYP Ed) Last year, de Blasio sought to cap the growth of e-taxi services such as Uber, Lyft and Gett. Why? Because wealthy donors of his, city cab medallion owners, knew that the increasingly popular services were a significant threat to their bottom line. Instead of innovating and improving the service they offered to riders, these fat cats went to de Blasio, reminded him of their prior contributions and called in their chits with one goal: kill the competition. De Blasio dutifully tried. And he failed, backing down in the face of industry opposition and public outcry. The horse-carriage deal followed a similar trajectory. It was pushed by an organization, NYCLASS, that was established under the guise of animal welfare, but really was a way for its wealthy donors to seize the valuable land belonging to the horse-carriage industry and develop it for their own personal gain. Noble. On Thursday, as news spread that de Blasio had once again lost a big political fight, he sat in his SUV outside City Hall, surrounded by the very people whose jobs he wanted to eliminate: the carriage drivers. The men and women whose livelihood de Blasio had threatened surrounded his car and the mayor sat there . . . for 16 full minutes — he probably wished he was back in Iowawhere nobody knew who he was. There were other instances of de Blasio proposing a big policy and losing. His push to build housing on Sunnyside Yards in Queens would have added 11,250 affordable-housing units to 200 acres of undeveloped land and ultimately rivaled PeterCooperVillage and Stuy-Town. Gov. Cuomo snuffed that idea out because the state, not the city, controls that parcel of land. Or de Blasio’s stance against Police Commissioner Bratton’s desire to put more police officers on the street? In that instance, the City Council overrode the mayor and went even further than what Bratton was calling for. When things go wrong, de Blasio and his team pass the buck. Homelessness increasing? That’s just the press fear-mongering. A top aide violating the law and having a live-in boyfriend who was a convicted murderer and had a history of misogyny and anti-police statements? The press was misbehaving and not focusing on what he wanted them to focus on. Carmen Fariña telling parents about cuts to school language programs that they should just buy their kids Rosetta Stone? (What if history were cut? Would Fariña advise parentsto buy their children The Oregon Trail?) The press clearly took what Fariña said out of context. This time, however, he has a new scapegoat: the unions. How dare they fight for their own jobs at the expense of a few donors making millions of dollars? Remember, de Blasio ran for mayor as the champion of unions and the working man. He decried how our political system let donors, or as he called them “those people,” buyinfluence with elected officials. How ironic.

Speaker Still Trying Connect Horse Deal and Pay Raise Joined At the Hip Everywhere

HOW THE SPEAKER PLAYED POLITICO New York's When Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito convened her Democratic conference last week, she had good news and bad news. The good news was that the mayor would back an unprecedented 32 percent raise for Council members, and that the legislation for the raises would be ready for a vote this Friday. The bad news was that members would also be voting on a long-stalled bill to restrict the horse-carriage industry - a priority of Mayor Bill de Blasio that would eliminate jobs across two industries, and require an estimated $25 million in city money to refurbish a horse stable in Central Park. The two bills - neither of which is particularly popular with the public - would be considered on the same day, Mark-Viverito told her members. Media strategy: "These two issues have been hanging over our heads forever, so let's just get it over with and move on is what she was basically saying," recalled one member who attended the conference meeting. "There was certainly a lot of frustration among folks from the council who would prefer not to be voting on these two bills at the same time, and that was something that was discussed by members then." Scheduling both bills for a rare Friday session appeared to be a way to minimize the damage, and bury them in a single Saturday news story. But packaging the bills together has also proven problematic. Mark-Viverito and the mayor have each denied any connection between the two bills, and the speaker has hailed the reforms included in the pay-raise bill - which restrict members' outside income and eliminate committee stipends - as "unprecedented, substantial reforms." But she has also tried to preempt the bad press leading up to the votes.* CARRIAGE OWNERS SPLIT WITH UNION Owners of horsecarriage medallions say moving industry into Central Parkwill harm their business (NYDN) * De Blasio Swears His Horse-Carriage Plan Has ‘a Lot ofSupport in the Council’ (NYO)

Speaker Melissa and Her 50 Thieves Move the Horses to the Park For A Real Estate Fix to Hike Their Pay

Monday After what he deemed a “disastrous” hearing on the subject, New York City Councilman David Greenfield called for the delay of a vote on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s horse carriage ban, which is scheduled for Friday.

NYT: Council to Vote on Higher Pay Raise Than the Commission Recommended and Horse-Carriage Bill on the Same Day

The mayor hailed the proposed ethics reforms the NYC Council is mulling as “historic,” but declined to say if he would sign the controversial pay raise package bill – which would hike their salaries by 32 percent – that are tied to the rules changes.

New York Council May Vote on Raise and Horse-Carriage Bill on Same Day (NYT)As the Council completed a package of bills on lawmakers’ raises, questions surfaced about possible links to a bill shrinking the horse-cab industry. * Now the City Council wants a whopping 32 percent raise (NYP) Unsatisfied with proposed 23 percent pay hike, City Council members are planning to overrule a mayor-appointed panel and vote themselves a whopping 32 percent raise next week, officials said late Thursday. The council announced that it plans to boost members’ base salaries from $112,500 to $148,500, retroactive to Jan. 1. Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s salary would increase to $164,500. Last month, a three-member commission appointed by Mayor de Blasio recommended that the salaries increase to $138,500, but only if so-called “lulu” bonuses of $8,000 to $25,000 for committee chairmanships were eliminated. The speaker’s new salary was proposed to be $154,500.

Now the Mayor Distracts From the Corrupt Real Estate Deal By Saying the Laid-Off Carriage Drivers Will Be Given Jobs

De Blasio says horse carriage drivers who lose jobs will be given new ones (NYP) Carriage-horse drivers in Central Park who lose their jobs under Mayor de Blasio’s plan to downsize the industry will be given other employment, he said Monday.“The Teamsters union that represents them has been very, very clear they will have other jobs available,” de Blasio said. “So there’s no job loss.” Drivers quickly rebuffed the mayor’s claims, saying they haven’t been offered new careers — nor would they want them. “If someone does offer a horse- carriage driver another job, he or she won’t be interested,” said Ian McKeever, president of Historic Horse &amp; Carriage of Central Park. “The only thing that horse-carriage drivers want to do for a living is to drive a horse carriage.”*

By Jim Callaghan Big Bill rushing to break Mayor Jimmy Walker's record for sleazoid deals before he leaves office in two years. as yogi said: "It's Dej Vu all over again- theft of pubic parkland. The Central Park Casino, originally the Ladies Refreshment Salon, was a restaurant near East 72nd Street, in Central Park in New York City. The name of the building came from the Italian for "little house"; the Casino itself was not a gambling business. Built in 1864, the restaurant was once intended for unaccompanied female visitors to Central Park, but was soon patronized by both men and women. While the building that housed the Casino belonged to the City of New York, the City often leased the Casino to independent operators. Mayor Jimmy Walker exercised this power in 1929 by terminating the lease of C.F. Zittel, allowing Walker's friend, Sidney Solomon, to transform the Casino into one of New York's most expensive nightclubs. Besides entertaining elite guests in the restaurant, Walker had an office in the Casino and conducted city administration there while meeting with political cronies. When the Great Depression hit four months after the Casino reopened, the nightclub faced increasing criticism for operating on city land while maintaining prices only the wealthiest New York residents could afford. As part of their personal vendetta against Jimmy Walker, the new Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia and his Park Commissioner Robert Moses demolished the Casino in 1936 and built a playground over the site of the former restaurant Koch tuned City Hall over to Meade, Cohn, Manes, Freidman and their pals; DiB turns it over to his pals in the same fashion. where is the "reform?"

Coming Soon: Who Crushed Political Dissent in NYC

All Power Mayor Council Puppets Deserve A Big Pay Raise as Media Dissed

City Council members really think they deserve a 32 percent pay hike(NYP) Membe rs of the City Council spent hours Wednesday trying to justify a 32 percent pay hike they plan to award themselves, but they didn’t convince the head of a special panel that recommended they get $10,000 less. “For me this is a big compromise we’re doing today. Our salaries should be $175,000,” said Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (D-Manhattan). “We have a right to make a living to support our families.” Rodriguez, whose WashingtonHeights district has a median household income of about $39,500, argued he and his colleagues deserve more because they have to attend night meetings and deal with constituents’ complaints at all hours.

The Mayor, Speaker and Council Who Have No Clothes Live In A Clueless Bubble

“One-third of the 51 council members have zero significant prior work experience, except as aides to elected officials—frequently the council member whose seat they now occupy. Another six council members are former public school teachers. Several, including speaker Mark-Viverito, were union staffers or community organizers. Aside from a handful of lawyers who could possibly maintain private practices and an evangelical minister who continues to preach every Sunday, it’s hard to imagine that many members of the New York city council have much earning potential in the real world.”Six-figure Schmoozers (City Journal) Overpaid already, New York City lawmakers propose a big, fat raise.

“When we go to eat in a restaurant, we have to allocate time to speak to our constituency,” he said. Schwarz brushed off Rodriguez’s concerns. “Everybody needs to feed their family,” he said. “We thought we did an appropriate raise for all offices.” Councilwoman Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan) argued that the commission’s proposed raises amounted to being “penalized” because members often give needy constituents money “out of our pockets in order for them to eat.” The raises are scheduled to be voted on Friday, the same day members will be asked to approve Mayor de Blasio’s bill to downsize the horse-carriage industry and limit the animals to Central Park. The mayor said he supports the raises. He dismissed criticism from good-government groups that the timing makes it appear he’s holding the raises hostage to the horse-carriage bill.* The City Council’s pathetic case for a windfall raise (NYP)Frederick Schwarz just nicely punctured the City Council’s excuses for its obscene pay-hike plan. Schwarz chaired the outside panel that recommended a 23 percent raise for council members, to $138,315. The council promptly turned around and tacked on another $10,185, for a 32 percent bump — and is rushing the vote through on Friday. Never before has the council raised its pay more than the outsiders suggested. Another first: The hike’s retroactive to Jan. 1, rather than kicking in after the next election. At Wednesday’s required-by-law hearing, Councilmember Margaret Chin (D-Lower Manhattan) claimed the higher number would attract “more good people to government.” Schwarz answered, “There’s no shortage now.” Darn right: Candidates flock into council races. * Council clowns’ modest pay proposal (NYDN Ed) * De Blasio: Move of horses to Central Park will pass (NYDN) * A City Council Raise That Raises Questions (NYT Ed) There are good reasons for a pay increase, but there are also good reasons for taking the time to explain why such a large raise is needed.

Two days before they are expected to vote to increase their salaries by nearly a third, New York City council members held the first, and only, public hearing on the package of bills that would raise their pay while enacting significant reforms, the Times reports: * The Times writes that a better-paid New York City Council is welcome, but there are good reasons to be uneasy about how the Council approached the raise and it's reasonable to ask the members to take a bit more time to answer lingering questions: * Political consultant Tom Shanahan in the Journal writesthat a full-time state legislature and barring outside income won’t prevent corrupt practices, and no state in the country limits outside income for its legislators for good reasons: * Many New York City Council members believe the pending horse-carriage legislation that could erase hundreds of jobs and cost the city millions is less about animal rights and more about de Blasio keeping a campaign promise to wealthy donors. But they’ll likely approve it anyway tomorrow, saying they are under intense pressure to do so. * NY horse-carriage drivers brace for city to rein in theirbusiness *

Daily News Leaves Out Council Pay to Play Pay Raise and the Real Estate Deal As It Attacks the Deal On the Health of the Reduced Number of Horses

They kill horses,don’t they? The City Council must refuse de Blasio’s horse bill (NYDN) Whipped like mules and rewarded with money sweets — good boy, good girl — the City Council is moving to a vote that will hurt humans and animals. Members must understand that Mayor de Blasio is driving them to return the favors of animal-rights activists who funded his mayoral campaign in appallingly cruel fashion. The activists wanted to ban horse carriages from the city, declaring that the horses suffered terribly. With the activists spending lavishly on ads that hobbled Christine Quinn’s candidacy, de Blasio declared that the carriage industry was inhumane. Initially, the Council balked at killing the business. And, now, paid-laborer de Blasio is ramming through a “compromise” that would limit horses to Central Park, where they would be housed in a new taxpayer-funded, wasteful $25 million stable. The members are urged to read the Op-Ed article published today. Susan Kayne, of the Unbridled Thoroughbred Foundation, documents that de Blasio’s scheme would severely overwork the horses.* De Blasio denied the suspicion that NYC Council support for his horse carriage proposal is somehow intertwined with a plan to raise lawmakers’ wages.

Even the NYT is Against the Central Park Horse Deal, But Says Nothing About the Mayor's Pay to Play Pay Deal With the Council Central Park Conservancy Pressuring the NYT

A Misguided Plan for Carriage Horses (NYT Ed) Having failed to kill New York City’s carriage-horse industry, Mayor Bill de Blasio has settled for crippling it. He has sent a bill to accomplish this to the City Council, which is expected to vote on it next Friday. The Council needs to stop him. As weary as members might be of this issue, which has been festering since the 2013 mayoral race, they need to dispose of it. This means standing up to the administration, to passionate but misguided animal lovers and to real estate interests presenting themselves as animal lovers. Because the deal would reduce but not eliminate the carriages, and confine them to the shady lanes of Central Park, where new stables would be built, it carries the appealing scent of compromise. But it’s a shoddy effort, shot through with dubious assumptions and unanswered questions. Why spend public dollars — perhaps $25 million, though no one knows — to set up a private, profit-seeking business in Central Park? Why build redundant housing for horses during a human homelessness crisis? Why go after law-abiding small-business owners and employees, and take away jobs? When the uprooted business shrivels — from about 170 horses to 110 by December and 95 by 2018 — how will it survive, and what will become of the displaced drivers and jobless horses? Why punish pedicab drivers, who have no political clout, by banishing them from the parts of the park where the carriages will go? Why was the Central Park Conservancy, which has deep reservations about the plan, left out of the discussion? The deal offers a solution where there was no problem. The industry is well-regulated, drivers make a living, and the horses are safe and healthy. The bill before the City Council smells more like a political fix than good policy. It pays a debt to the mayor’s wealthy donors, and it clears the way for developers who covet the West Side property where the stables lie.

de Blasio May Give the Council An Even Bigger Pay Hike If They Pass His Horse-Carriage Bill

City Council mullingfatter raises than proposed 23% hike (NYP) In a stunning move, City Council members are mulling even fatter raises for themselves than the 23 percent boost recommended by a mayor-appointed panel, sources told The Post Wednesday. The 51-member council on Feb. 5 is expected to push through a hefty raise package for all elected city officials that could include boosting council members’ salaries to as high as $150,000, the sources said. The council is also expected to approve Mayor de Blasio’s controversial plan to shrink the carriage-horse industry and move its entire operation within Central Park. A three-member panel convened by Blasio last month recommended council members’ salaries rise from $112,500 to $138,315 and that Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito get a 37-percent pay hike to $154,375. But some council members have privately griped about wanting higher raises — which would be their first since 2006 — because they’re being forced to give up annual “lulu” bonuses of $8,000 to $25,000 each for chairing committees. The panel’s recommendations, which are purely advisory, also call for council members giving up all outside income and making the position a full-time job. Council sources said any decision to go above the panel’s recommendations would only come in conjunction with “significant” additional reforms.*

.@CitizensUnionNY hopes there's "been no horse trading" on @NYCCouncil pay raise &amp; carriage bills, since both may be decided on same day

The Horse Carriage Quick Fix is Really About Fixing the 2013 Election With the NYCLASS PAC

City Council might soon vote on mayor's horse-carriage plan (NYDN) * De Blasio’s horse carriage plan will shrink the industry dramatically if it does not make them disappear entirely, but the Council should stop the mayor from downsizing at least until the new stables are finished, the Daily News writes: * The NYC Council could vote as early as next week on a controversial bill that would move the horse carriage industry inside Central Park. More here. * The Council will vote on a bill next week that would give them a salary increase. This comes just a month after The Independent Advisory Quadrennial Commission, a three-member panel convened by de Blasio in September, released its findings. * Sources tell the NY Post Council members are mulling even fatter raises for themselves than the 23 percent boost recommended by the mayor-appointed panel. * COUNCIL SCHEDULES VOTES ON PAY HIKES AND HORSE BILL -- Horses carriage plan -- POLITICO New York The City Council could vote as early as next Friday on a contentious proposal to restrict the horse carriage industry, leaving Council members little more than a week to decide on one of the more polarizing proposals of Mayor Bill de Blasio's tenure. After a conference meeting for members Wednesday, the Council has officially re-scheduled its stated meeting for Friday, when the bill is expected to be sent to the floor for a vote.Several sources confirmed to POLITICO New York on Wednesday that Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito encouraged members to vote in favor of the proposal during the council's bimonthly Democratic Conference meeting which was held in the member's lounge of City Hall this afternoon.The vote would come less than two weeks after city officials received low marks from Council members for their inability to answer questions about the legislation at a hearing. The de Blasio administration has subsequently circulated a fact sheet to members with answers to some of their questions.* -- Daily News editorial: "Using parkland for an unneeded, profit-making concession should be rejected." -- Suggested headline, from @RobGeorge: "Yay To Pay, Not to Trot"

Why is the Horse-Carriage Union Allowing A Plan to Pass the Council That Will Kill All Their Members Jobs?

Bill’s killing timeon getting rid of horse carriages (NYDN) Now, the mayor’s office has sent a document to Council members that was described as “fact sheet” but is really a writ of execution. At any one time, roughly 180 licensed horses reside in four privately owned stables on Manhattan’s West Side. Their masters pay monthly boarding fees that enable the stable owners to meet their bills, including considerable real estate taxes in an area booming with development. De Blasio’s plan calls for cutting the number of horse licenses to 110 on Dec. 1. As the suddenly unlicensed and unemployed steeds are sent to meet their fates, the number of stabled horses will plummet, taking with them their boarding fees. Immediately, stable owners will experience sharp drops in income, likely enough to signal bankruptcy. Suddenly, selling out to real estate developers will become the only viable option. When stables shut, the industry will shrink dramatically, if not disappear entirely. The Terminator will terminate, as he had vowed to do on “day one” in keeping with the wishes of big-money political supporters. De Blasio has thrown gauze over the grave by anticipating a new stable in the park at a cost of roughly $25 million in roughly 32 months — asking everyone to believe the city will complete the regulatory process, survive legal challenges and erect the structure in the blink of a bureaucratic eye. Using parkland for an unneeded, profit-making concession should be rejected. That said, the Council should at least stop de Blasio from fatally starving the carriage industry by mandating that he can start downsizing only after opening his waste-of-money stables.''''

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Ethics Board Also Ignores Lobbyists Working to Elect Candidates to Help Them Make $$$ Off of City Contracts

A gift for MelissaMark-Viverito: Ethics watchdogs let the City Council speaker off easy forconflicts of interest (NYDN Ed) By all rights, were justice equal in New York government, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito would be out of her job today. The city’s ethics regulations bar public employees from accepting gifts — but the Conflicts of Interest Board comes down hard, in fact, unforgivingly hard, only on the little guy or gal for even trivial rule violations. Consider 24-year veteran sanitation worker Lenworth Dixon, who accepted a $20 tip from a grateful homeowner for whom he had carted off yard waste. In 2014, the board forced Dixon to retire and fined him $1,500. Or consider 20-plus-year sanitation workers Robert Bracone and Rene Torres, who had each accepted a $5 tip. The board drove both men to retire and pay $2,000 fines. Now, consider Mark-Viverito. In 2013, she accepted freebie services from a lobbyist as she campaigned among her colleagues to be speaker. Still worse, the firm represented clients who would need the speaker’s backing for legislation. According to the conflicts board, the gifted services had a value of $3,796. Despite the fact that the amount was more than 700 times larger than a $5 tip, and despite the fact that Mark-Viverito had undermined the integrity of her office, the board imposed a fine of only $7,000 Which was $18,000 less than the top penalty. Which Mark-Viverito can pay out of her campaign funds, rather than out of the city salary she’ll continue to receive. Parks Department manager Cristina Badillo never got a break like that. The board last year fined her personally $1,000 for accepting a $15 gift of chocolate liqueur and an $8 box of Whitman’s chocolates. Still worse, the board ordered Mark-Viverito to pay $4,000 to the lobbying firm of Scott Levenson, who was her partner in crime. She will take that money, too, from a campaign account. Still worse, Levenson can take that $4,000 and pay his fine, in that exact amount. Still worse, Mark-Viverito admitted guilt only after waging a long battle against the board, running up legal bills of $123,313, with more to come. Again, she’ll

Another Slap of the Wrist for Lobbyists Advance Group This Time Illegally Working for Mark-Viverito Speakers Campaign

An Interlocking-Directorate of Lobbyists That Controls the Council Speaker

Setting precedent, Conflict of Interest Board settles with Mark-Viverito(CapitalNY) Lawyers for City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito have reached a settlement with the city’s Conflict of Interest Board following an investigation into free political consulting services that Mark-Viverito accepted during the race for speaker in 2013. As part of the settlement, the speaker has agreed to pay a $7,000 fine for accepting the services, a small fraction of the $25,000 statutory maximum she faced when the inquiry was first launched. The ethics board launched the non-criminal investigation in January of last year, alleging she acted improperly by accepting help from the Advance Group — a lobbying firm which has business dealings with the city. Elected officials are barred from accepting anything of value from registered lobbyists including a gift in the form of a service. The settlement decision was strengthened by the fact that the structure of Mark-Viverito’s undeclared campaign account is different because the race was not subject to regular campaign finance rules. Normally, elected officials are barred from using campaign money to run for another office, or to spend money from transition committees which typically only help pay for inauguration events. During the race, The Advance group helped Mark-Viverito prepare for the race, which included several community forums and debates as well as behind-the-scenes politicking with council members and county party leaders who helped collect votes in her favor. * Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid(NYO) Ms. Mark-Viverito insisted today that this was not the case but out of an “abundance of caution,” the relationship would end. Melissa Mark-Viverito Drops Advance Group for Speaker Bid - Blogs(TU) * An operative with the controversial Advance Group, Jonathan Yedin, who has been working in Brooklyn Democratic Party politics for more than a decade and belongs to Mr. Seddio’s political club. Though Ms. Mark-Viverito eventually stopped taking free advice from the Advance Group, Mr. Yedin remained a crucial player in the brokering of the deal, sources said. Inside Melissa Mark-Viverito’s Road to Victory(NYO) * Nailed! @MMViveritomust pay $7K fine for accepting free help from lobbyists in bid for job (NYDN) In addition to the $7,000 fine, which Mark-Viverito can use campaign funds to pay, she’ll pay the Advance Group $3,796.44 for its work.

de Blasio Administration Planning for Horse Stables in the Park Was As Bad As Their Plans for the Homeless, NYCHA and Bad Schools

Council stalls on horse carriage vote over lack of details in de Blasio plan (NYP) Mayor de Blasio’s bid to rush through a plan to get horse carriages off the streets and into new stables in Central Park ran into a roadblock Friday when mayoral aides couldn’t offer basic details at a City Council hearing. To the ire of legislators, officials were unable to say how much the proposed stables would cost, what part of the park they’ll be in or how many drivers would lose their jobs. “The administration did a piss-poor job here today of explaining their case and defending this legislation,” said council Majority Leader Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens). As a candidate for mayor, de Blasio vowed to ban the horse-carriage industry from the park on his first day at City Hall — a move that earned him significant financial support from animal-rights groups. Earlier this week, Hizzoner announced a compromise to gradually reduce the number of horses from 180 to 95, stable them in Central Park by October 2018 and — unexpectedly — to restrict pedicabs to north of 85th Street. City officials wouldn’t confirm reports that they’re looking to renovate a Parks Department building at 86th Street at an estimated cost of $25 million.
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de Blasio Mini Mes Mark-Viverito and Rodriguez Run A Clown Show Hearing on the Mayor "Horse Feathers Plan"

Just say neigh to horse nonsense (NYDN) Without reason, without facts, without need, Mayor de Blasio is moving to muscle through theCity Council his so-called compromise plan for carriage horses. The members would prove themselves to be cowardly horses’ asses if they bow to the mayor’s all-out push for immediate action. After suddenly throwing into the air his plan to limit the horses toJust say neigh to horse nonsenseCentral Park, de Blasio wants to shove it down everyone’s throat next week without full public consideration and move on, carried on the shoulders of his campaign donors. No, your highness. Joining de Blasio’s undemocratic power move, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito rushed a bill into print and put it up for a hearing on Friday. The venue was the transportation committee, chaired by Manhattan’s Ydanis Rodriguez, a supporter of banning the horses entirely. Rodriguez wound up presiding over a circus. Although de Blasio has been intimately involved in working out every aspect of the purported deal with the Teamsters local representing carriage drivers, the mayor’s aides at the hearing knew zero, zilch, nada. Council members had every right to expect that the chief of de Blasio’s Office of Operations would be able to explain at least a little something about how his plan would work. Instead, Mindy Tarlow and other administration aides wasted everyone’s time with professed ignorance. No, they couldn’t say how much the city would spend building new stables, although the price has been reported, without mayoral objection, to be as high as $25 million. No, they couldn’t say exactly where the new stable would be built in the park. No, they couldn’t say how many drivers and other workers would lose their jobs because of the mayor’s planned restriction on the industry. No, they had not done a transportation study or had the courtesy even to inform pedicab workers that de Blasio intended to ban them from much of the park. So it goes when naked mayoral will is at play. What’s more, union boss Demos Demopoulos refused to give his endorsement. He testified he had agreed only in concept, while drivers pleaded with the Council to at least amend the bill. What they have recognized is that de Blasio’s legislation would slice their business immediately while promising to get the stable built within two years — a virtual impossibility given the sure legal challenges, complex bureaucratic approvals and the city’s general sloth at completing projects. Correctly, they’re sizing up de Blasio’s scheme as a plot to starve the industry out of existence before a stable is built. The Council must not abet the hit job.* City Council grills de Blasio staffer over horse plan (NYDN) *Opposition and Confusion at Hearing on Mayor de Blasio’s Horse Plan (NYT)* City Provides Few Details on Carriage Horse Plans, Council Says DNAinfo * "I'm the last councilmember here," sez @cmenchaca (councilman). Other electeds can't stay to listen to ppl who will actually lose jobs ... * City Council Grills Officials Over Proposed Deal on Horses Wall Street Journal * De Blasio's horse plan meets City Council jeers Capital New York * New York City Has a New Plan for Horse Carriages That Nobody Seems to Really Like New York Magazine - * Activists Slam De Blasio's NYC Horse Carriage Proposal CBS Local -* Eva Moskowitz on claim Success schools are harsh: “Olympicathletes, when they don’t do well, they sometimes cry." (NYT)*De Blasio's Carriage Horse Plan Struggles To Whinny OverAngry Neighsayers (Gothamist)

The deal would require the refurbishment of a 14,000 square foot existing building located along the 85th street transverse, into a 75-stall stable for the horses, with room for 68 carriages. The building, known colloquially as "the shop" is sited next to a police precinct, and has been used for decades as a Parks Department maintenance facility. The refurbishment would be paid for with taxpayer dollars, a move de Blasio described Monday as "a worthy investment" although he could not immediately say how much it would cost. "This is a capital investment for the city," de Blasio said of the building renovation, telling reporters that although City Hall doesn't have a final figure for the costs, "We will get one as we do the research."

My question about horse deal in NYC? Is the mayor planning to get rid of police horses on city streets, in city traffic? Just asking.

de Blasio's Central Park Pedicab Ban Will Kill the Industry

Pedicab Have to Form A Political PAC and Hire Berlin Rosen

De Blasio’s Central Park pedicab ban will kill the industry: critics (NYP) Mayor de Blasio’s plan to ban pedicabs from Central Park below 85th Street will put the final nail in the coffin of an industry loathed by most New Yorkers, advocates and drivers told The Post. Laramie Flick, president of the NYC Pedicab Owners Association, said that competition from Uber would make it impossible for the roughly 300 pedicabs operating in the park to make a buck anywhere else in Manhattan. “Uber has destroyed the streets. We only get the leftovers. Basically, this will put the pedicab industry out of business. A few may be able to survive in Midtown,” Flick said. “But between Uber and the ban, that will be the end of pedicabs in New York.“ Heastie and Jenkins both defended the relationship as proper, saying they adopted the arrangement after seeking guidance from the Joint Commission on Public Ethics. “To be completely transparent, JCOPE was consulted and they said that this was the best way to proceed,” Heastie said through a spokesman. Jenkins became a lobbyist in 2007 after helping run Eliot Spitzer’s campaign for governor. He also served as a campaign aide to Andrew Cuomo before Cuomo became governor. Jenkins’ other clients include Genting Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct, Deloitte &amp; Touche and Education Reform Now Advocacy. Cuomo’s ethics reform proposal includes new regulations that would put political consultants under the same reporting requirement as lobbyists. They would have to file semi-annual financial statements disclosing whose campaigns employ them and how much they are paid. Cuomo and the Legislature are under tremendous pressure to curb practices that led to the federal corruption convictions of Silver and Skelos.

A Tale of Two Cities: de Blasio's Lobbyists and His Contributor Friends the 1%

Two New Yorks: De Blasio’s friends — and everyone else (NYP) Say this much for Mayor de Blasio: He looks out for friends and donors. Stephen Nislick was the force behind the anti-horse-carriage group NYCLASS, which was a huge help in winning de Blasio the Democratic nomination. (The general election was a walk.) Now the deal will move the horses out of their West Side stables, so Nislick can finally acquire that property. Losers include the animal-rights nuts who wanted the industry banned, and the taxpayers who may have to pay some drivers to retire and for the renovation of the stables in the park. This comes on top of Rich Calder’s Post storyTuesday that Team de Blasio has green-lighted plans for a major, multiday music festival on Randall’s Island. Sponsoring the event is AEG Live — which paid Hizzoner’s old pal, Harold Ickes, $150,000 to lobby for it. As part of de Blasio’s transition team, Ickes even played a role in hiring Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver — who OKs permits like the one for AEG’s July 24-26 event. A slam-dunk for AEG. But two other concert promoters — who, like AEG Live, sought to hold multiday festivals — were shut out completely. And while all three applied to use FlushingMeadowsCoronaPark in Queens, the site was moved to Randall’s Island, even though the AEG event may steal business from another music shindig there slated for a month earlier, Governors Ball. What a sleazy way to do city business — and what an awful message to send to cultural and business groups looking to operate here: If you don’t hire someone with personal ties to the mayor, you’re out of luck. Of course, the mayor can’t always deliver — the City Council’s rejecting his bid to crush Uber. So the taxi industry will have to collect some other favor for its generous donations to de Blasio’s campaign. De Blasio campaigned on the theme of New York’s “tale of two cities.” By treating friends and allies better than everyone else, he’s making that image true+

First Electric Cars Now Moving and Reducing Number of Carriages House in Stables in the Park, Another Idiot Idea Says the Daily News

Buck this bad dealand leave the carriage horses be(NYDN Ed) The odor of a rank sellout — of man and beast — emanates from negotiations between the union representing carriage horse drivers and City Hall. In the process, he would destroy the livelihoods of an undetermined number of drivers and support personnel, sharply cut the number of working horses and invest money in renovating a stable in the park. The Teamsters, who have much other and much larger business with City Hall, should have rejected all of this out of hand. About 220 horses pull 68 carriages. With their services spread out over the course of the day, that enables them to have rest periods. They also get at least five weeks of vacation a year. The new stables would likely accommodate 75 horses, while demand on the industry may well remain unchanged. If a reduced number of horses were to pull the same number of carriages as are operating now — a big if, but a possibility — that would mean at least double the labor for each animal. nd were to get the funds for new Central Park stables? Not from taxpayers, because de Blasio is engaged in a vanity project as payback to NYCLASS, the animal activists who financed advertising that crippled former Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s mayoral bid. Although the complexities are overwhelming, de Blasio and the Council appear to believe they can surmount any obstacle while brushing past sure legal challenges. More likely, their ideas will go into oblivion, just like de Blasio’s scheme to have carriage drivers tool around Central Park in electric Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang cars..* Sources: City offering to pay for Central Park horse stables (PoliticoNY)Upgrade could cost millions in taxpayer dollars* City Study Thwarts Pols' Accusation That Uber Causes Traffic Congestion (DNAINFO)The report recommends more regulation for the for-hire vehicle industry.

Bill de Blasio’s dirty deal to kill the carriage-horse industry (NYP Ed) It’s a dirty new low, even for Mayor de Blasio: He’s set to finally impose a death sentence on the carriage-horse industry while lying about it — and (legally) bribing the City Council to OK it. The drivers don’t want it, the stable owners don’t want it, parks advocates don’t want it — and New Yorkers, by an overwhelming majority, don’t want it. But the City Council is poised to pass a bill Friday to destroy an industry that predates the Civil War. Steve Nislick — who dumped some $2 million into making de Blasio mayor. What’s their interest? Valuable West Side real estate, now home to carriage-horse stables, they’d love to seize and develop. (Nislick denies it. Buy that, and he’ll offer you a bargain on the Brooklyn Bridge.). The mayor calls the bill before the council a “compromise.” That’s pure horse manure. It’s actually a way to pay back de Blasio’s rich backers by killing off the horse-carriage trade in stages while pretending to preserve it. The council is wired to go along in exchange for a deal that will hike members’ pay by 32 percent without a public hearing. Anyway, de Blasio’s bill starts sharply reducing the number of carriages right away, years before the facility could open.That will cut the financial legs out from under the stable owners — forcing them to sell. (Hello, Steve!). No, our “progressive” mayor is destroying honest, working-class jobs — and an entire, small-but-iconic New York industry — so he can repay a fat-cat donor. And he’s using taxpayer cash to bribe the “progressive” council to go along.Looks like another case for Preet Bharara.* Albanybillboards ask public to apply ‘See Something, Say Something’ to politicalcorruption (NYDN) *City Council Members: No Deal-Making in Their Potential Salary Increase (NY1) * A Misguided Plan for Carriage Horses (NYT)

Friday's True News

A Result of the Cover-Up by the CFB and Board of Ethics On the NYCLASS Election Corruption, The Council is Openly Bribeable To A Developer Deal

BOSS TWEED WOULD CHEER: Stink of manure as Council plans to vote for big raises on the very day it votes on de Blasio’s horse bill(NYDN) * There was no smell of fresh hay when Mayor de Blasio reached a horse carriage deal with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito on the very day he blessed pay hikes for her members. Now there’s the stink of manure as the Council plans to vote for even bigger raises for themselves on the very day it votes on de Blasio’s horse bill. This isn’t horse trading; it’s daylight bribery. First, animal rights activists pump a critical $1 million into de Blasio’s election campaign. Next, de Blasio says he’ll spend $25 million on a Central Park stable to keep promises to the activists. Next, a Council that had refused to kill the carriage industry gets a big payday and goes along with a plan that purports to limit the horses to Central Park but, in fact, will starve the industry to death well before a necessary new stable opens. Meanwhile, the Council is writing a pay raise bill in secret with plans to take far more than the hike an independent commission recommended. In doing so, Mark-Viverito and company will violate decades of sensible precedent. In every previous pay raise round — in 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2006 — the Council voted into law the salary recommendations of special temporary commissions set up to provide the public with an independent judgment of how much pay levels should be increased. Never has a Council passed raises greater than a commission thought warranted. This time, the panel recommended hiking the Council salary 23% from $112,500 to $138,315 while abolishing extra stipends doled out to loyalists. Instead the Council is moving to set salaries closer to $150,000. De Blasio got his money, the animal rights activists got their stables, and Council members are sealing the deal with big money in their pockets.* The New York City Council completed a package of bills on that would adopt provisions on outside income and financial disclosures while raising pay to $148,500 a year, far above a city commission’s recommendation, The NewYork Times reports: * The New York City Council has scheduled two separate hearings on Feb. 9 and 10 for de Blasio's controversial zoning plans related to his overall affordable housing goals, though it’s not clear which officials will testify, Politico New York reports:

A Ringer Who Works Along With the NYCLASS Advance Group for Edison Properties

Dragging its feet, Assembly protects felons’ pensions(NYP ED) * Consulting firm head hired by de Blasio for Central Parkcarriage industry review was early supporter of NYCLASS (NYDN) The head of the consulting firm hired by Mayor de Blasio to do an independent review of the Central Park carriage industry has a history of horsing around with animal rights activists. Langan Engineering CEO David Gockel was an early supporter of NYCLASS, the group that wants to ban carriages, NY1reported Thursday. His firm has also done extensive for Edison Properties — the company of wealthy developer and NYCLASS funder Steve Nislick.Langan’s website also says it has “been retained by multiple teams” involved in the development of Hudson Yards — a real estate project close to many of the West Side stables where carriage horses are kept. Many of the carriage owners suspect their valuable real estate assets are driving NYCLASS’s and Nislick’s determined efforts to get the industry shut down.

67% Of New Yorkers Support Horse CarriagesMedia Covers the Council Horse Fight Ignores the Illegal Activities of NYCLASS in the 2013 Election

Edison and its related companies own some 40 parking lots and garages, and have made a fortune constructing everything from Manhattan Mini Storage facilities to luxury apartments on their extensive roster of parcels.* The man behind the horse-carriage fuss(Capital) Steve Nislick believes his ally de Blasio will deliver

Edison Hires the Advance Group Six Days After de Blasio Became Mayor, Where is the Prosecutors?

Edison is also pushing a plan to extend the No. 7 train from Manhattan's West Side, where it owns properties, to a Secaucus, N.J., site, where a major Edison parking facility sits next to a New Jersey Transit hub. Six days after Mr. de Blasio's inauguration in January 2014, Edison inked a $7,500-a-month lobbying contract with Manhattan-based Advance—which had orchestrated the anti-Quinn political action committee and NYCLASS' own efforts to undermine Ms. Quinn's bid. Advance's political consulting activities during the campaign season are now reportedly being investigated by the FBI, and last week NYCLASS was for violations stemming from its work with Advance.* Nislick &amp;Feldman ('spender") held personally "LIABLE" for $26K @NYCCFB Hearing

Edison’s StephenNislick pushes real estate agenda with mayor (Real Deal) Among other things, the developer is pushing for an extension of the 7-train to New Jersey. Nislick co-founded a political action committee — New York City Is Not For Sale — that spent more than $1 million to help defeat Christine Quinn, who was then de Blasio’s main opponent and didn’t support the horse carriage ban. A spokesman for the mayor told Crain’s that the meeting between de Blasio and Nislick in 2013 was about “parking rules and regulations, specifically things like parking minimums.” Developers have lobbied to city to try to cut down parking mandates. In May, the mayor said his administration would re-examine those mandates. [Crain's]

If the bill to ban horse carriages had gone before the New York City Council’s Consumer Affairs Committee as originally anticipated, its chairman believes the wheels would have come off the controversial measure, Crain’s reports

Will the Fact That All 3 Paper Editorials Oppose Mayor's Horse-Carriage Plan Means Nothing to Council Members

Can You Imagine Abzug, Messinger or Friedlander being silent if someone tried to Steal the Election from Them

On November 21, 2013 the Daily News reported how the political consultants secretly worked together to fixed elections,"The firm (Advance Group) admitted its work for City Action Coalition PAC was problematic. “We did a favor for a political operative that we have a longstanding relationship with by sending his mailer to a printer,” an Advance Group spokeswoman said. “It was a mistake that we regret and is completely inconsistent with our history.” The CFB blasted NYCLASS, also known as New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, for not taking responsibility for their wrongdoing. “These are very serious and severe penalties. They are very severe because there were very serious violations by NYCLASS,” said Richard Davis, a CFB board member. “The Board feels very strongly that if you’re going to becomean independent spender you cannot outsource responsibility for compliance withthe law. (NYO)That is the responsibility of the independent spender and that responsibility was not met here.” The CFB said the Advance Group itself could face fines in the near future. “We have all seen the disturbing increase in spending by outside groups in federal, state and even local elections in recent years,” said Rose Gill Hearn, a CFB board member. “The Board expects to consider violations and penalties against The Advance Group, the common agent to the spender and the candidates who benefited from these expenditures.”

Even the CFB is Ignoring the Damage PACs Are Doing to Public Financing of Campaigns

The CFB ignored tens of million pured into the city's public financed campaigns to come up with a self serving conclusion on its work. On the same day the CFB fined the Advance Group for corrupting two council campaigns with the NYCLASS PAC they released a report that Public Funds Reduced the Impact of Big Money and SpecialInterests.

One Year Ago the NYT Reported Advance Claims It Had A Fire Wall Between the PAC and Campaigns it Ran

“We took pains to have firewalls internal to the firm,” said Mr. Levenson, who acknowledged that he faced an investigation. “I can say unequivocally, independent expenditures were done independently and not coordinated.”

Now the NYT Reports That the CFB Said There Was No Fire Wall, In Fact Advance Ran the Show

In documents released after its vote on Thursday, the board said it “found credible” statements by NYClass that it did not know the Advance Group was also consulting for Ms. Cumbo’s and Mr. Levine’s campaigns, and that it had relied on the Advance Group’s assurances that NYClass was in compliance with campaign-finance rules.

NYT, NYP and Daily News Silent On Local Impact of Citizens United on the City's Public Financing System

NYT's + Media's Blind SideThe NYT has written several times on the national impact of Citizens United but never on the impact of that special interests big money supreme court decision on the 2013 NYC election. The press is focused on a preacher and 4-year-olds, while not reporting on how our city government was mugged by special interests Citizen United PACs and the lobbyists political consultants who do their bidding in the last election. Have these PACs made NYC government worse (if that is possible)? Have these PACs and lobbyist consultants committed crimes? stay tuned.The Line at the ‘Super PAC’ Trough(NYT) An unlimited source of cash is now a requirement for contested congressional races * Change the Rules on Secret Money(NYT Ed) * Liberal Donors Pollute Politics, Too(NYT Ed) *Campaign finance reformers take a hard line(TU)

NYT's Tells de Blasio Forgetabout Banning the Horses

Horse Nonsense From City Hall(NYT Ed) Mayor Bill de Blasio should forget about his foolish campaign promise and let the carriage rides continue. Details are lacking, but questions are many. Why eliminate an entire class of Teamsters union jobs? How will the horses escape slaughter? What will happen to the stables, on coveted property on the West Side of Manhattan? (Not for nothing do people wonder why the force behind NYClass, the group pushing the anticarriage crusade, is a real estate developer, Stephen Nislick.) And does this have anything to do with the $1 million ad campaign financed by NYClass to eliminate Mr. de Blasio’s main rival in the primary, then-Council Speaker (and carriage defender) Christine Quinn? So many tough questions. One simple answer: Dump the bill. Keep the horses.** The 2.5-million-member New York State AFL-CIO unanimously decided to oppose Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to ban the horse carriage industry in New York City, the Observer reports:

The Daily News and NYT Both Wear Blinders When It Comes to Explaining the Corruption Behind NYClass

NYT Also Puts On A Pair of Blinders When It Comes to NYCLASS True Mission. The paper uses the PAC to threaten de Blasio to not ban the horses, but does not explain or give details on the true mission of NYCLASS or that it is under investigation. TRUE NEWS HAS BEEN REPORTING THAT NYCLASS LIKE DATA AND FIELD IN 2009 WERE CREATED TO GO AROUND THE ELECTION LAW TO GIVE UNFAIR ADVANTAGE TO THE CANDIDATES THEY SUPPORTED.

Probe underway tofind whether anti-carriage group NYCLASS helped candidates in 2013 city elections(NYDN) EXCLUSIVE: The Campaign Finance Board is investigating whether NYCLASS helped candidates in last year’s city elections. So-called independent political organizations can spend money to support candidates as long as they do not coordinate their efforts with those candidates.The Campaign Finance Board is investigating whether the animal-rights group leading the crusade against horse-drawn carriages helped candidates in last year’s city election in violation of campaign finance rules. The investigation already has determined that the group, NYCLASS, improperly steered more money than was allowed to some City Council candidates. On Tuesday, a day after Mayor de Blasio confirmed he would move ahead with a NYCLASS-endorsed bill to ban carriages, officials would not say when the investigation will conclude. But Scott Levenson, the political consultant whose Advance Group worked for NYCLASS and is now at the center of the investigation, said that he was told by Campaign Finance Board staff that “recommendations have been made.” He declined to elaborate. Board spokesman Eric Friedman said only, “There is an ongoing investigation of potential coordination between certain independent spenders and candidates via their common agent, The Advance Group.”

CFB Investigation How Lobbyists and Special Interests Destroyed New Yorker's Democracy and Took Over Control of City Hall

Banana NY:Sheinkopf the Man Who Pleaded the 5th to the AEG Investigator Replace The Advance Group Under FBI Investigation

NYCLASS adds Sheinkopf to steer new mail blitz (NYO)NYCLASS, the prominent animal rights group seeking to ban horse-drawn carriages from city streets, has added a veteran Democratic operative to steer its new direct mail blitz. Henry Sheinkopf, who has worked as consultant for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a host of city and state level candidates, will lead a new mail and field operation targeting the districts of City Council members undecided about the ban. NYCLASS, short for New Yorkers for Clean, Livable and Safe Streets, will target the Brooklyn districts of Council members Mathieu Eugene and Laurie Cumbo, along with the Manhattan district of Councilman Daniel Garodnick–in addition to several others that have yet to be revealed.

The operation will cost in the “six figures” and last into the fall, according to a NYCLASS source. (Mr. Garodnick, Ms. Cumbo and Mr. Eugene did not immediately return requests for comment.) Mr. Sheinkopf, a consultant and lobbyist, has a long record of victories, though several of his City Council candidates failed to win office last year. He replaces the Advance Group, the firm that headed NYCLASS’ successful independent expenditure against Christine Quinn’s 2013 mayoral campaign but was dropped after a series of negative newspaper reports related to that effort surfaced.

Almost 150 have died since March 2009, most of them from injuries during races.
Seventeen horses died at the Queens track during the season ending last
month. Ten of them died during races. Not one horse carriage horse died
in central park Six carriage horses died in the last five years, but none after accidents, riders say.

Almost 150 have died since March 2009, most of them from injuries during races. Seventeen horses died at the Queens track during the season ending last month. Ten of them died during races. Not one horse carriage horse died in central park

EXCLUSIVE:
FBI investigating donations to NYCLASS from men close to Mayor de
Blasio that may have been used toward anti-Christine Quinn campaigners
(NYDN) Two
men with strong ties to Mayor de Blasio donated cash to the NYCLASS
animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. The
animal rights group then donated identical amounts to anti-Christine
Quinn campaigners. The transactions are now under FBI investigation. The
mayoral race had not yet come to a boil, but Democrat Christine Quinn
was already feeling the heat.A political action committee called New
York City Is Not for Sale had
spent most of April and May 2013 bashing Quinn in television ads. Her
poll numbers were sliding, but the anti-Quinn campaign wanted to rough
her up even more. That’s when a curious set of financial transactions
quietly took place —
transactions that are now being investigated by the FBI. On May 21,
lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal
rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later,
on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn
group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for
$175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John
Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount,
$175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. Both Wilhelm and Eisenhofer have
long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s Democratic rivals
in the mayoral campaign.More on the HorseGate Investigation

17 horses died at Aqueduct last season while none died in Central Park. What's the reaction of @BilldeBlasio?

HorseGate . . .

FBI Investigating Illegal Coordinating Between NYCLASS PAC and the de Blasio Campaign

EXCLUSIVE:
FBI investigating donations to NYCLASS from men close to Mayor de
Blasio that may have been used toward anti-Christine Quinn campaigners
(NYDN) Two
men with strong ties to Mayor de Blasio donated cash to the NYCLASS
animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. The
animal rights group then donated identical amounts to anti-Christine
Quinn campaigners. The transactions are now under FBI investigation. The
mayoral race had not yet come to a boil, but Democrat Christine Quinn
was already feeling the heat.A political action committee called New
York City Is Not for Sale had
spent most of April and May 2013 bashing Quinn in television ads. Her
poll numbers were sliding, but the anti-Quinn campaign wanted to rough
her up even more. That’s when a curious set of financial transactions
quietly took place —
transactions that are now being investigated by the FBI. On May 21,
lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal
rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later,
on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn
group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for
$175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John
Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount,
$175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. Both Wilhelm and Eisenhofer have
long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s Democratic rivals
in the mayoral campaign.

Wilhelm is de Blasio’s cousin — and a prolific fund-raiser for him.
Wilhelm raised $6,950 for de Blasio’s 2009 race for public advocate and
$80,000 for de Blasio’s successful campaign for mayor. And Eisenhofer is a top de Blasio fund-raiser as well. He and his law
firm gave de Blasio’s public advocate campaign $18,000 in 2009. He also
raised $82,250 for de Blasio’s mayoral run, making him one of the
campaign’s top “intermediaries.”

Under the law, so-called independent committees like New York City Is
Not for Sale are not allowed to coordinate or consult with the campaign
of any candidateHid the Money
'Had UNITE HERE! and Eisenhofer contributed directly to the
free-spending anti-Quinn effort, their involvement would have been made
public within weeks because of disclosure rules. But because they contributed directly to NYCLASS, Wilhelm and
Eisenhofer were able to enjoy anonymity for months. The trigger for
disclosure did not take place until NYCLASS began its own campaign
spending, an event that occurred on Sept. 7, three days before the Sept.
10 mayoral primary.

Sal Albanese
‏@SalAlbaneseNYC FBI investigation of NYCLASS
role in Mayors race is important bc their spending played a major role
in the campaign. It prevented a runoff

The Daily News Outlines the Corruption of the 2013 Campaign But Does Not Call for the Prosecution of This Crime

Bill at the trough (NYDN
Ed) De Blasio's conversion on horse carriages coincided with a rush of
campaign cash.
This is the curious story of how a self-described skeptic of the ban in
2007 became, by March 2013, a man who pledged to “ban the horse
carriages in Central Park within the first week on the job.” In 2007,
then-City Councilman de Blasio declared himself “skeptical” of a bill
seeking to ban the carriages. In January 2008, the checks began arriving
— and, presumably, the reeducation of the politician got underway.
Wendy Neu, a longtime animal rights advocate who would later become a
NYCLASS board member, gave $1,000 to de Blasio’s campaign for public
advocate.Before long, more checks from Neu, NYCLASS co-founder Stephen
Nislick and others started rolling in.Conversion
complete? Not quite. As public advocate, de Blasio did not
co-sponsor a bill that would have further restricted the industry.
Fast-forward to 2011. By January, de Blasio’s campaign collected more
than $20,000 in checks from NYCLASS supporters. That February, de Blasio
wrote, “The time has come for New York City to
turn the page” and “embrace safer, more humane alternatives” to the
ponies. By the time the race was in full swing, his campaign had banked a
grand
total of $50,300 from NYCLASS supporters, $4,950 of which had to be
returned because it busted the legal limit. Meantime, NYCLASS started
pouring vast amounts of cash — we’re talking
hundreds of thousands — into a hugely successful campaign to take down
then-front-runner Christine Quinn, opening the path for de Blasio’s
rise.Despite prohibitions on coordination between the campaign and
outside
groups, the funds flowed in both directions. On the same day last June,
two of de Blasio’s top financial backers — Jay Eisenhoffer, an attorney,
and John Wilhelm, de Blasio’s cousin and a union leader — gave a total
of $225,000 to NYCLASS. As that money poured in, the candidate and then
mayor emerged as the
carriage industry’s worst enemy — and the best friend of those who would
kiss away hundreds of good-paying jobs.

FBI
agents have been questioning people about the pledge de Blasio made in
March 2013, and the ads launched the next month by animal rights
activists attacking Christine Quinn, the Daily News has learned. Agents
also appear interested in a $175,000 contribution to the animal rights
group NYCLASS from a union tied to de Blasio's cousin, labor leader John
Wilhelm. An FBI investigation of last year’s mayoral race includes an examination
of Bill de Blasio’s campaign pledge to ban carriage horses, the Daily
News has learned. FBI agents also appear highly interested in a $175,000 contribution by a
union tied to de Blasio’s cousin, labor leader John Wilhelm, to the
animal rights group NYCLASS, the sources Friday. The News first disclosed the FBI investigation on Friday, reporting that
the FBI was looking at a threat by NYCLASS’ political consultant Scott
Levenson early last year to undermine Quinn's campaign if she didn’t
back the carriage horse ban. The new revelations indicate the investigation is broader, touching on de Blasio as well.

Connecting the Horse-CarriageGate By the Numbers

1. De Blasio announced at a candidates’ forum in March 2013 that he would
eliminate the horse-drawn carriages in his first week as mayor,
delighting NYCLASS and other animal rights activists. 2. In early April, after Quinn refused to support the proposed carriage
ban, NYCLASS founder Steve Nislick, and board member Wendy Neu, gave
$200,000 each to New York City is Not for Sale, the political action
committee formed by Levenson to carry out the Anybody But Quinn campaign
of TV ads, robocalls and mailings — which began that month — attacking
her. 3. In May and June, NYCLASS chipped a total of $225,000 to the anti-Quinn effort, records show. 4. And in June, two of de Blasio’s top financial supporters gave $225,000 to NYCLASS, records show. 5. One of those supporters was de Blasio’s cousin, Wilhelm, who was then
head of the union group UNITE HERE!, which wrote a check for $175,000 to
NYCLASS — the biggest contribution NYCLASS had ever received. The other
was Jay Eisenhoffer, an attorney. 6.
Wilhelm and Eisenhoffer also acted as “intermediaries” for de Blasio’s
mayoral campaign, collecting $165,000 in contributions for him, records
show. 7. Still, de Blasio has said that neither he nor his campaign coordinated
with NYCLASS or New York City is Not for Sale in attacking Quinn. Any
such coordination could be a violation of campaign laws.* Sources: Anti-Horse Carriage Push Under Investigation(NY1)

A Piece of Tape Took Down A President . . . NYT Says Horses Taking Up Mayor's Time Times
Forgot to Blame the Horses for the Mayor Always Running Late, Keeping
the Schools Open During A Snow Storm and For Trying to Close Down
Charter Schools

Only the Washington Post Took A Taped Door Seriously

For de Blasio, Carriage Horse Ban Is No Walk in the Park(NYT)
The New York City mayor has seemingly avoided Central Park and is
struggling to turn public attention toward other issues on his agenda:
housing and wages. “The horse carriages have reached the point where
they have the potential to divert the mayoral agenda. “Mayors in the
past have used the park to enhance their stature. Now,
the issue of the park is diminishing his stature,” Kenneth Sherrill, a
longtime teacher of political science at Hunter College, said of Mr. de
Blasio. “Everybody knows that this issue is not what he wanted to have
people talking about right now.” The horses show few signs of leaving
the news. Animal-rights activists
and the carriage industry have hired high-priced political consultants
to aid their cause. Scott
Levenson, a political consultant involved in the anti-Quinn effort,
said in an interview on Friday that he had “not been contacted by any
investigative agency regarding the Anybody But Quinn campaign.” He
said that his firm’s activities were “democracy as usual” and that he
had not coordinated his activities with Mr. de Blasio or his campaign
aides, which could be a violation of election law.

Memo to the NYT's Editorial Board: PAC Corruption Came To NYC In the 2013 Not With Judge Crotty Ruling This Week

Unlimited Koch Cash Comes to New York(NYT)
Judge Paul Crotty reluctantly allowed unlimited contributions to
independent political groups in New York State. He wrote that he was
bound to follow the high
court’s directives “no matter how misguided the court [referring to
himself may think it to be.” And he explained in detail why the Supreme
Court’s rulings, in both the Citizens United case and more recent
McCutcheon case, were so imprudent. With only a few exceptions, he said,
political donors give money “in the hope — indeed the expectation — that
the contribution will affect the candidate’s votes or actions.

That
expectancy creates an implied promise to be fulfilled by the candidate
once in office.” The use of money to win that promise, he wrote, does
not inspire public confidence that the government will do the right
thing. “Indeed, today’s reality is that the voices of ‘we the people’
are too
often drowned out by the few who have great resources,” the judge wrote.
“In today’s never-ending cycle of campaigning and lobbying, lobbying
and campaigning, elected officials know where their money is coming from
and that it must keep coming if they are to stay in office. Ordinary
citizens recognize this; they know what is going on; they know they are
not being included. It breeds cynicism and distrust.”

Exposing the Advance Group, NYCLASS Cover-UpDaily News : “If you want to follow Mayor de Blasio’s evolving position on Central
Park horse carriages, just follow the money. De Blasio switched
positions on the issue.” HORSE-$WITCH: Mayor de Blasio's position on horse carriages switched as the cash rolled in(NYDN)
As
a councilman, Bill de Blasio once expressed doubt over a horse-carriage
ban. Then the campaign donations started rolling in. De Blasio switched
positions on the issue, first expressing doubt about
a potential ban and later embracing it. Along the way, he pocketed
$45,000 in a stream of campaign checks from the anti-carriage crowd, a
Daily News review found. He was also the beneficiary of a highly choreographed media blitz
against his chief rival for City Hall — former Council Speaker
Christine
Quinn — an effort funded to a great extent by the anti-carriage crowd.
Back in 2007, then-Councilman de Blasio said he was “skeptical” of a
proposed law touted by animal rights groups to ban the carriages. At the
time, he declined to sign on. In January 2008, that began to change,
starting with a $1,000 check from Wendy Neu to de Blasio’s campaign for
public advocate. Checks from anti-carriage supporters like Neu, NYCLASS
co-founder
Stephen Nislick and others continued through 2009 and into 2010.

It is Against the law for A PAC and Campaign to Work Together De Blasio has insisted his campaign did not coordinate with NYCLASS or
NYCN4S in attacking Quinn, but last June two of his top financial
supporters gave a total of $225,000 to NYCLASS — on the same day.One of the givers was his cousin, John Wilhelm, then head of the union
group UNITE HERE!, which wrote out a check for $175,000 to NYCLASS — the
biggest contribution NYCLASS had ever received. The other was Jay
Eisenhoffer, an attorney. Wilhelm and Eisenhoffer both acted as
“intermediaries” for de Blasio’s campaign, collecting $165,000 for him,
records show.* Top de Blasio supporters funded anti-Quinn group(CrainsNY)

Nothing
in the NYP, NYT and Local TV News on a top mayoral candidate being
questioned by the FBI on his involvement in the HorseGate Scandal
De
Blasio, asked Saturday about the investigation, denied that the feds
were looking at him. “No truth in that,” the mayor said. “I have no
indication that any of
it’s true . . . Everyone followed the appropriate rules and I just have
no indication there is any such investigation.”The mayor said neither he
nor his staffers were contacted by
investigators, and he downplayed the role of the anti-Quinn attacks in
his victory. “I’m not a pundit,” he said Saturday. “I think that a lot
of factors went into the election.

Rat Leaving Sinking Advance Ship

The Advance Group—the consulting firm
hired by animal rights activists to run the Anybody but Quinn campaign,
which is being investigated by the FBI—saw six staff members quit in
the last six months, the Daily News writes:

EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigating claim Christine Quinn was threatened for refusing to support carriage horse ban during the mayoral race (NYDN) In
the past few weeks, FBI agents have been asking questions about the
campaign by the animal rights group NYCLASS to get Christine Quinn to
support a ban on the iconic carriages, two sources familiar with the
matter told The Daily News. The FBI wants to know if the nature of the
threat became extortion. When Quinn refused to support a ban on the
carriages, an ad blitz began, and she later lost the race. A political consultant hired by NYCLASS, Scott Levenson, twice
approached aides to Quinn and allegedly told them that if she didn’t
back the proposed ban on carriage horses, they would spend big money on a
political campaign attacking her. The aides, Jamie McShane and Ramon Martinez, conveyed the message, but
Quinn would not change her position. NYCLASS and its supporters then
carried out Levenson’s threat — helping to fund months of negative
commercials, robo-calls and mailings that began the downfall of her
candidacy. Sources said the FBI appears to be evaluating the nature of the threat
and whether it went beyond the normal rough-and-tumble of politics and
drifted into extortion. It could not be determined if the questioning is part of a broader investigation.* FBI Investigating Carriage-Ban Group for Basically Influencing the Entire Mayoral Race(NY Mag)

What Did the Mayor Know and When Did He Know It?

A political action committee called New York City Is Not for Sale began
its anti-Quinn ad blitz on April 8, 2013, funded in large part by
anti-carriage horse activists.On April 10, a poll found Quinn leading the Democratic primary for
mayor with 32% of the vote. Nine days later, Quinn was at 28%. By May
22, she had dropped to 25%. By the end of June, with the attacks still
coming and a new Democrat in the race — Anthony Weiner — Quinn was down
to 19%. She finished a distant third in the Sept. 10 primary with a little more than 15% of the vote. More on the Advance Group
.
.
.
.
Was de Blasio Threaten Also or Did He Do It For the Money?
De Blasio emerged as a darling of the anti-carriage crowd early
last
year when he vowed to ban the industry the first week he took office. By
the Sept. 10 primary, de Blasio had received more than $50,000 from
NYCLASS backers and had to return $4,950 that exceeded campaign spending
limits, records show.

A horse-carriage opponent attacks the compromise plan to put the animals in Central Park: http://nydn.us/1udpCsb

Support For and Against the Horse Carriage Ban on the Council

HORSE POLITICS (NYDN)
“Of the
Council’s 51 members, just 13 support banning the carriages and eight
oppose the ban, the poll found. But 26 members are undecided, although
some of them said they are leaning one way or the other. The other four
Council members declined to respond. … “Seven lawmakers who co-sponsored
a bill in the last Council session to ban the carriages and replace
them with faux antique electric cars now say they are
undecided.”Representatives of the animal rights group NYCLASS, which is
leading
the carriage-ban drive, and officials of the Teamsters, which represents
the carriage drivers, have been lobbying Council members. Yet no bill
has been drafted, and it could be months before one is
introduced — even though when he was a candidate, Mayor de Blasio vowed
to ban the carriages in his first week in office.

The Media Covers the Horse-Carriage Fight But Ignores the Political Corruption That Caused the Controversy

The Very Able NYT Columnist Michael Powell Wrote the Following Last Year That The PAC NYCLASS controlled By Advance Group:
"There is evidence that near-unregulated independent spending helped
mortally wound Ms. Quinn, who was the front-runner last spring." In Campaign, Cash Flowed Circuitously (Powell, NYT)* The Headless Horse Ban (Village Voice)
Bill de Blasio's pledge to abolish horse-drawn carriages is running away from himDaily News Editorial Demands Equal Rights for Horses

Powell Also Reported That A Couple of de Blasio Big Bucks Guys Backed NYCLASS Attacks on Quinn "Her opponents knew this. Jay Eisenhofer, a backer of Mr. de Blasio, gave
$50,000 to a group that ostensibly wanted to ban carriage horses. And
John Wilhelm, Mr. de Blasio’s cousin, is a powerful figure in Unite
Here, the hotel workers’ union. That union also gave $175,000 to the
horse group. Perhaps Mr. Eisenhofer and Mr. Wilhelm are horse lovers. What’s clear is
that the so-called horse group ran ads attacking Ms. Quinn on many
fronts.)

Will Albany That Save the Charter Schools Now Save the Horse-Carriages and the Mayor?

Wild horses(NYP Ed)Nearly four months later, not only is it not over, there will soon be
counter-legislation in Albany. Westchester Assemblyman Gary Pretlow
says he will introduce bills to maintain the number of horse-carriage
licenses the city issues as well as declare what experts already tell
us: It is not inhumane for a horse to pull a carriage. The mere existence of such legislation tells us as much about the
mayor’s competence as it does about horse carriages. Because if it
passes, it will be the second time — the first was the state
intervention on charters — de Blasio’s preference for ideological
crusades over common sense had invited a thumping from Albany. *Does the Council Have the Votes to Ban the Horses?HORSE-SPLIT: City Council 'seems split' on horse-drawn carriage ban, says committee head(NYDN) Councilman Rafael
Espinal, chairman of the Consumer Affairs committee, said he doesn't
'have a position' on the ban — though bills that typically make it to
committee have support of the chair. While sources say there isn't a lot
of support for the bill in the Council, its supporters insist it will
pass.* NYC mayor rips carriage crony who threatened to slug Daily News photog(NYDN)

Steve Nislick,
co-founder of NYCLASS is also a real estate developer. the stables that
currently house the carriage horses are on the west side close to the
Javitts Center an area that is experiencing a rejuvenation boom, making
those properties very valuable. If by some chance the carriage industry
was to be banned and the horses seized from their owners, well that
would leave some very valuable property up for grabs. Donations and a
media campaign unseating Christina Quinn from the front runner spot for
Mayor is no small thing. Nislick may want some payback from the Mayor
and the west side stable properties look like just the thing.

Real Estate and the Horses

Steve Nislick, co-founder of NYCLASS is also a real estate
developer. the stables that currently house the carriage horses are on the west
side close to the Javitts Center an area that is experiencing a rejuvenation
boom, making those properties very valuable. If by some chance the carriage
industry was to be banned and the horses seized from their owners, well that
would leave some very valuable property up for grabs. Donations and a media
campaign unseating Christina Quinn from the front runner spot for Mayor is no
small thing. Nislick may want some payback from the Mayor and the west side
stable properties look like just the thing.

Steve Nislick,
co-founder of NYCLASS is also a real estate developer. the stables that
currently house the carriage horses are on the west side close to the
Javitts Center an area that is experiencing a rejuvenation boom, making
those properties very valuable. If by some chance the carriage industry
was to be banned and the horses seized from their owners, well that
would leave some very valuable property up for grabs. Donations and a
media campaign unseating Christina Quinn from the front runner spot for
Mayor is no small thing. Nislick may want some payback from the Mayor
and the west side stable properties look like just the thing.

Steve Nislick,
co-founder of NYCLASS is also a real estate developer. the stables that
currently house the carriage horses are on the west side close to the
Javitts Center an area that is experiencing a rejuvenation boom, making
those properties very valuable. If by some chance the carriage industry
was to be banned and the horses seized from their owners, well that
would leave some very valuable property up for grabs. Donations and a
media campaign unseating Christina Quinn from the front runner spot for
Mayor is no small thing. Nislick may want some payback from the Mayor
and the west side stable properties look like just the thing.

City Council Opposition Is Growing to Bill de Blasio's Promise to Get Rid of Buggies(WSJ) The 51-member City Council is rarely out of step with Mr. de Blasio,
but interviews with more than two dozen members, or their staff,
suggested the mayor wouldn't have the votes for an all-out ban.” Council
members Andy King, Elizabeth Crowley, Costa Constantinides, Jumaane
Williams, are quoted expressing skepticism on a ban right now.

HorseCarriageGate
NY
1 did a story on the political developments on the path to banning
Horse carriages but do not identify the man at the center of the
scandal, Scott Levension of the Advance Group. They show a picture of
Levension and say quickly there is an investigation but not mention his
name and explain what he is being charged with doing. Many believe the
Levinson investigation is the reason why the mayor and council speaker
does not move on ban they promised during the election.

@Newsday’s count re horse carriage ban: 8 oppose,15 support, 19 undecided * City Council thinks mayor lacks votes for carriage ban(NYP)Why de Blasio can’t ban horse carriages(NYP)
To ban the carriages on health and safety grounds, the city would need
evidence — and there is none. Plus, de Blasio has already prejudiced a
weak case. By saying that a
visit to the horse stables wouldn’t change his mind, he made it clear
that he’s not interested in facts. Both courts that struck down
Bloomberg’s soda ban noted the mayor’s interference with the scientific
process. Ban the carriages on transportation grounds? Still need that
pesky evidence.

Sunday UpdateWhy de Blasio can’t ban horse carriages(NYP)
To ban the carriages on health and safety grounds, the city would need
evidence — and there is none. Plus, de Blasio has already prejudiced a
weak case. By saying that a
visit to the horse stables wouldn’t change his mind, he made it clear
that he’s not interested in facts. Both courts that struck down
Bloomberg’s soda ban noted the mayor’s interference with the scientific
process. Ban the carriages on transportation grounds? Still need that
pesky evidence.

Bill’s trojan horse(NYP Ed)
This week, Bill de Blasio reiterated he’s not open to any arguments
against shutting down the city’s horse-carriage trade. The mayor said
he’d traveled his own journey to his position, and saw “a lot of other
cities around the world” have banned the horse carriages. When we asked
him to name those cities, his office sent us the following names: Tel
Aviv, New Delhi and Oxford. That’s telling. Because just one year ago,
as public advocate, he
wrote a piece for The Huffington Post in which he claimed “London,
Paris, Las Vegas, Toronto and Beijing — New York City’s chief rivals for
tourism — have all banned horse-drawn carriages in recent years.”What
he wrote was false. Which explains the switcheroo. The mayor’s shift
underscores the dishonesty of the
anti-horse-carriage campaign, on everything from a non-existent London
ban on carriages to outrageous charges of animal cruelty against the
Central Park drivers. All for a cause the public opposes by a more than
two-to-one margin.

Bowery Salvation Army to become new Ace Hotel(NYP)Even the homeless are getting priced out of Manhattan. The Salvation Army Chinatown Shelter has sold out for $30 million and
is moving to Brooklyn. In its place will be a hip Ace Hotel and a
luxury boutique condo complex.